


Comments on “The Book of Sorrows”, found within resonating pieces of calcified fragments found on The Dreadnaught

by NightmareAmpersand



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Commentary, Gen, Spoilers, Theorycrafting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-14 21:45:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5759992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightmareAmpersand/pseuds/NightmareAmpersand
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ignis and Mokir were supposed to dissect the story in these fragments, but they were more interested in exploring the Dreadnaught.  Now I have to do their work, but I don't much mind.  There's something to be said for getting caught up in a story, you know?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Verse 1 - Fundament and Communion

**Author's Note:**

> The text of "The Book of Sorrows" belongs entirely to Bungie and their creative teams; I cannot and do not claim any of it. The comments are my own, done in the perspective of my in-game character.

**Comments on “The Book of Sorrows”, found within resonating pieces of calcified fragments found on The Dreadnaught.**   
_Written by Zephyr (Human Hunter, spec. Bladedancer)_

**Verse 1:1 — Predators**

Predators and Menaces —  
Carved to endure by Xi Ro —  
Third surviving sister of the Osmium King’s last brood —

A STORMJOY. A stormjoy is a living cloud. When it passes over our continent, it lowers its feeding tentacles. On each tentacle are the BAIT STARS. Although light makes you happy, you must avoid it. You will be eaten.

A stormjoy is a good way for an old person to choose death. Also, a daring knight can cut the bait stars from the tentacles. I have six!

FALLING. If you fall off the edge of the continent, you will die in the ocean! This is a special hazard when our father the Osmium King uses the engines.

HELIUM DRINKERS. The currents of the Fundament Ocean bring us near other continents. The Helium Court is near us now. They are of our species, but they are our enemies. Their knights raid us every day. Helium Drinkers have two legs, two arms, and three eyes, just like us. But they are bright/evil. I want to be a knight and fight them!

The Helium Drinker ambassador ate ten of my sisters as tribute. This is normal. However, I resent it.

MOTHERS. Mothers can fly! They live much longer than ten years. Mothers are extremely smart, and they guard their spawn. If you try to tamper with the eggs, they will eat you. Sathona wants to eat the jelly and become a mother when she turns four.

STORMS. The rain is often poisonous. Sometimes it dissolves flesh. When lightning misses the lightning farm, it can vaporize a person.

This entire world is deadly to us.

MYSTERIES. The Fundament is very large. We are the smallest things in it. If you don’t understand something, it will probably kill you. My teacher Taox says this is why we have such short lives. So we can breed and adapt quickly.

MOON WAVES. My sister Aurash is afraid of moon waves. When she gets back from her expedition to the Tungsten Monoliths, I will ask her why.

_\--So, we are first introduced to a world where there are hazards at every corner, whether the danger comes from flora and fauna, natural occurrences, and even other sentient beings (and, in the case of the Helium Drinkers, likely the same race). Truthfully, I have the idea that our own Earth was like this at one point in time, as humans were slowly learning to adapt to and change the environments around them. It is a bit sobering for me to realize that this very first verse could come from any sentient species toddling along in the infancy of their evolution. Still, these simple words convey a race that knows their shortcomings and has learned to live as fully as their quick lives may allow and still not become bogged down with the strict mindset of self-preservation at any and all costs. The beauty of a lethal predator is acknowledged, they recognize others of their species and understands their customs and mindset, though they may not agree with it, they sire children, rear them, raise them, teach them…barbaric practices, for the most part, but certainly not animalistic. I cannot help but to like and empathize with Xi Ro in this. Her wonder in this world’s dangers is endearing, the way a youngster can see danger and find adventure instead. I see this attitude so often in the younger Titans._

_One additional note. In describing the Stormjoy Xi Ro touches on something profound and remarks on it: “Although light makes you happy, you must avoid it. You will be eaten.” This innocuous statement could be the beginning of the catalyst which allowed for the eventual creation of the Hive. There is something else that bothers me about this quote, but no matter how hard I try I just can’t pinpoint it._

_**“THEY TOLD ME IT WOULD EAT MY THOUGHTS  
AND LEAVE ME FULL OF LIGHT.”** _

**Verse 1:2 — The Hateful Verse**

For the consideration of the Helium Court,  
Written in desperation,  
This sealed secret,

I am Taox, sterile mother, teacher to the children of the Osmium Throne.

As a mother, I live long. As a neuter, I can rise above the small battles of court politics.

I alone see the patterns of survival. Alone I designed the great engines that move the Osmium Court. Now —

Alone I must act to save my kingdom.

Senility has claimed my lord the Osmium King. He is ten, and mad. The study of ancient text consumes him. Today he raves about moons above the storm. Tomorrow he will wander the halls, speaking to his familiar, a dead white worm from the deep sea. He keeps it in glass, and he tends to it, and he neglects the duties of a king.

The Osmium King has three surviving heirs, each two years old:

Xi Ro, the youngest and bravest, who wants to be a knight.

Sathona, most clever, who wants to be a mother.

Aurash, navigator child, who dreams of the infinite ocean. Tomorrow she will return from the Tungsten Monoliths.

None of these are suitable heirs. None of them will protect the Osmium Court from the howling Fundament. Xi Ro can fight, but not lead. Sathona can think, but not fight. Aurash’s curiosity will draw her away from duty. I fear for all future children.

Soon the Osmium King will lock himself into the Royal Orrery to study the moons. Gather your knights, o Helium Drinkers, and invade our continent. Kill the three heirs. I will rule the Osmium Court as your regent, and build engines for you.

And if I fail, let the Leviathan in the deep eat me.

Written in grief,  
This hateful request,  
Taox, Osmium-mother, neutered to watch

_\--This passage is disturbing for a few reasons, and not entirely the obvious ones. Yes, we have a member of the upper echelon of the court begging an unfriendly kingdom to invade and commit total regicide, and that is disturbing in and of itself. However, the way these words are written and certain invocations makes me believe that Taox truly hates making this request, but that she also truly believes this to be the only way for her kingdom to live beyond the death of its senile king. As a mother, teacher, and ‘neuter’ (which I can only guess means that, for whatever reason, she willingly or unwillingly gave up the ability to have any children of her own soon after gaining the status/ability to do so) she understands the strengths and weaknesses of each of the heirs, and it is obvious that she is thinking in the very long term, obviously much longer than the 10-year or so life span of this species. Do we like Taox? Hate her? Condemn her for being a traitor, or praise her for her attempt to keep her own people together in the long run? Is she making a sacrifice for the greater good? Or is she merely realizing a long-buried and plotted ambition for the throne? Without concurrent histories of these people, we can only speculate._

**Verse 1:3 — The Oath**

Sisters! This is how an oath is done. Put your left hands on the mast, close to mine.

Take the knife in your right hand. Push it through your left hand, straight between the bones. Now! Carve a blood line down the mast.

Speak your oath.

“I am Xi Ro, youngest daughter of the dead king. I will take back my Osmium Court and kill the traitor Taox. On my left eye I swear vengeance.”

In blood the oath is made.

“I am Sathona, middle daughter of the dead king. I will take back my home and eat the mother jelly. I will raise my spawn on the corpse of the Helium King. On my right eye I promise this.”

In blood the oath is made.

Now...

“I will help make your oath, sister.”

“I will help it too.”

I am Aurash, first daughter of the dead king. I will chase my father’s last screamed warning. I will know what changed the motion of our moons. If the end of the world is coming, I will understand why.

On my center eye I swear it. I will understand.

“In blood the oath is made.”

“In blood.”

Thank you, sisters. We have only my ship left to us. But a ship is freedom! We have secrets to hunt, storm-lit realms to explore, and great armies to raise.

Put up the lightning sails, and we will voyage far.

_\--We’ve seen this sort of scene many thousands of times in Earth’s literature, both historical and fictional, and in a way it’s sort of comforting to find that this is a universal, if not entirely admirable, civilization trait. Going beyond that, this also gives us a tiny glimpse to the depth of this species’ ceremonial lives. The left hands are used to make the vow, and pain is inflicted in a very specific way. They each swear on one of their eyes, and as this species has three eyes, it hints that maybe each eye is attributed to a different emotion or trait, much like humans have with chakra or different internal organs. What I also notice in this is the way in which each sister is shaped, almost predisposed, to certain roles in their community, and the way that it shows in each vow they make. Combined with the descriptions we have from verses 1:1 and 1:2, I’ve come to an odd speculation. Xi Ro seems to be disposed to what we would now call a Titan, wanting to fight, to defend her ideals and her sisters, and to bring back what was taken from them. Sathona, in a very odd way, can also remind me of a Hunter. She is geared towards survival, and not just her own survival or the survival of her sisters, but to the survival of her kingdom over the one who has taken this kingdom from them. Aurash is what we would call a Warlock, hands down. She strives to unravel the mysteries presented to her, of the moons’ odd movements, of her father’s last warning, of the possibility that her entire world may now be in danger of destruction. Are these traits a deliberate parallel, a universal categorization, or simply my own bias?_

**Verse 1:4 — Syzygy**

The Syzygy —  
Carved to endure by Aurash —  
The high vengeance —

Only Xi Ro’s bait stars let us escape. Only Sathona’s tricks let us reach the coast. But now that we have my ship, I must lead the way. I am the navigator.

We may never see our homes again. Xi Ro seethes with hate and fury for Taox.

But this is my deepest fear —

Our civilization drifts on the Fundament. At the Tungsten Monoliths I learned that thousands of other species drift with us, coexisting on a vast world sea. And the tides of the Fundament move us all.

The Timid Truth says that we are the smallest, most fragile things alive. The natural prey of the universe. Taox would have us believe that our ancestors came to the Fundament to hide from the hungry void.

My father died afraid. Not of vile Taox or the Helium Drinkers, but of his orrery. He screamed to me —

“Aurash, my first daughter! The moons are different! The laws are bent!”

And he made the sign of a syzygy.

Imagine the fifty-two moons of Fundament lining up in the sky. (It wouldn’t take all fifty-two, of course: just a few massive moons. But this is my deepest fear.) Imagine their gravity pulling on the Fundament sea, lifting it into a swollen bulge...

Imagine that bulge collapsing as the syzygy passed. A wave big enough to swallow civilizations. A God-Wave.

I have to find a way to stop it. Before the God-Wave annihilates my species. If I could only get back into my father’s orrery, I could learn exactly when!

We are weeks of travel and many continents away from home.

When I’m paralyzed by fear, Xi Ro sits in the cabin with me and comforts me with soft, brave words. But more and more we have come to rely on Sathona’s wit. She will go off to be alone (she insists she must be alone) and return with some mad idea — steer into the storm, throw down a net, eat that strange beast, explore that menacing wreck.

Somehow Sathona seems to manufacture good luck by sheer will.

_\--Here is the second mention of the king and his orrery. When it was first mentioned in Verse 1:2, it was portrayed as detrimental by Taox, perhaps along the lines of superstitious augury. This verse suggests that this predicted a very real planetary phenomenon, one that could potentially lead to a planet’s destruction. After talking with some of the other Warlocks here at the Tower (they love to feel like they’re important when they’re lecturing on something ‘a Hunter would never need to know’), I’ve put together a potential line of catastrophic events that this and other verses talk about. The king was obsessed with reading the orrery, a mechanical model of planets and moons, most usually in a localized system (I remember that children loved building mini orrerys of our solar system for school science projects). Whether or not he was warned by this dead worm of his or by the scientific fact behind it, he learns that the fifty-two moons of this particular planet are no longer behaving within the natural law of physics. He presumably only had time to give the few lines and one symbol of warning to Aurash before he died, as we’ve read in this passage, and Aurash is using this as a base for studying what is going on. After a little more research with the Warlocks (ugh…I don’t recommend giving them a word like this if you don’t have a few hours to spare to listen to their prattling on about it), I found out that syzygy is a real phenomenon. It alludes to the phenomenon of three or more celestial bodies (say, the sun, the Earth, and the moon in our own little system) aligning within a line. The warning and symbol taken together give her the inkling of this God-Wave that will destroy her planet, and in truth it is rather terrifying, if naturally unlikely. As she explains, should even a few of their moons fall into syzygy with their planet, the gravitational pull will affect the tides of this world-sea to the point where it’s likely a tsunami of apocalyptic proportions would wipe out everything. Now, the Warlocks assure me that the chances of this happening naturally are slim to stop-being-absurd, and with only one moon we would never be at any natural risk for this kind of tsunami. However Aurash, via her father, concludes that this is not a natural phenomenon that is happening, and that the threat of this God-Wave is a certainty._

_Moving on from this, I also want to mention the first and last few lines of this verse. It is obvious that the three sisters are leaning on each other more heavily than ever, since they seem to be all each other has. Aurash seems to be the only one who grasps the full realization of this danger, and this at time paralyzes her with fear…honestly, I think it would paralyze anyone who would be faced with this realization. Xi Ro, as a fighter, doesn’t really understand the depth of this type of danger and so can only help by being a solid foundation, bracing her sisters with her own courage. Sarthona, though, is the one I want to keep in mind, especially in light of some of the future passages. She is specifically mentioned as going off alone to return with ideas that seem insane but somehow work for whatever situation they find themselves in, and Aurash mentions that she ‘seems to manufacture good luck by sheer will’. I have to wonder…_

 

**Verse 1:5 — Needle and Worm**

My secrets —  
Carved in my code by Sathona —  
The right eye vengeance —

1\. This year of wild voyaging, these lightning nights and golden days, these forays into ancient wrecks and windblown flights from monsters: these are the happiest times of my life.

2\. I want to be a mother not because I want to spawn but because I want a long life. Long enough to make a difference. We have been at sea a year and I am afraid, afraid we will die out here.

3\. I know where to find secrets. I know where vast slow things with long memories live.

4\. The needle ship...

The needle ship —  
Carved in my code by Sathona —  
A liar —

1\. We salvaged the needle from the Shvubi Maelstrom. I knew it would be there.

2\. The needle is a gray ship, as long and slender as hope, as unbreakable as time, and old. Older than death. It tumbled through the maelstrom before our ancestors crashed into the Fundament. This is not a sea-ship, like Aurash’s. It is an artifact of high technology.

3\. I know its purpose. I know what happened to the crew.

4\. Xi Ro wants to sell the ship at Kaharn Atoll, where species gather. At auction, it would earn us enough wealth to hire mercenaries. We could retake our Osmium Court and send the baby-eating Helium Drinkers screaming into the ocean —

5\. — but I told Xi Ro the ship was worthless.

6\. Aurash wants to open the ship and see if we can take command of it. I know this is the right thing to do. I know because I asked the worm...

The worm —  
Carved in my code by Sathona —  
Who should be afraid —

1\. It was my father’s familiar. I ripped it from him as we fled. It is a dead white thing, segmented, washed up from the deep sea.

2\. It’s dead, but it still speaks to me. It says: listen closely, oh vengeance mine...

_\--The style of this verse is jarringly different from the previous verses. To me, at least, it suggests an unsettling change that has occurred. The first section is entitled ‘The Right Eye Vengeance’, the eye which Sathona swore her oath on. She seems to be affirming that what she says and does from here on out is in furtherance of fulfilling this oath…a disturbing prospect, considering the future verses. The second section is entitled ‘A Liar’, which is what she acknowledges she has become to the only two who have mattered to her thus far, her sisters. Though she sees this as a part of fulfilling her oath and bringing forth the prospect of her ideal of absolute victory, she seems to explain so much here, as if she were trying to justify what she says and does not only to the reader, but to herself, as if she were ashamed or afraid. This, I think, is supported by her titling the third section ‘Who Should Be Afraid’, in which the only two lines show the source of her knowledge, the dead deep-sea worm her father talked to in the last days of his life. Who should be afraid of a dead worm, when there is nothing to fear from the dead? Who should be afraid of stories told by a traitor, even when this was the very thing Taox points out as having contributed to the Osmium King’s death? Who should be afraid of the voices no one else may hear, especially when they seem to speak the truth? Who should be afraid of the truth? This passage is our only warning to how far and how deep this tale truly goes, and to how it affects us even to this day._

**Verse 1:6 — Sisters**

A register of tokens and gestures exchanged before the end of sisterhood.

“Xi Ro, my brave sister, you have worked too hard to move the carcasses out of the birthing room! Come. Steer the ship for a while. Take joy in what our needle can do.”

Xi Ro tried to protest, but secretly, she was so glad for Aurash’s care. She flew the needle ship in cutting circles, down beneath the sea: and their wake rose up to the surface like a traitor’s dying breath.

“Aurash, lonely navigator, we have traveled so long with only each other. I know you love to hear and speak new tongues. Come, sit in the flesh garden room. I will read you these stories I bought at Kaharn.”

Aurash sat among the mummified flesh fans with two of her eyes closed and listened in silence to Sathona’s stories, hungry to understand, voracious to know as much as she could before her ten year life died.

Later, Xi Ro said, “Sathona, cutting mind of ours, you grow lonely in your thought. Play swords and lanterns with me!”

But Sathona was heavy with sorrow, and couldn’t pretend any joy as she chased Xi Ro through the needle’s glistening halls.

“Sathona, pensive one, what is it? What troubles you?”

Her sisters listened as Sathona said “Oath-bearing siblings, we are five years old. For two years we’ve worked to repair this ancient ship and understand its systems. I am almost too old for the mother jelly, and the knights who killed our father are surely dying of age.

“We three will die here, in exile. Taox will outlive us. And Aurash, brilliant-eyed Aurash, you will die of old age long before you have proof of your God-Wave, or any way to stop it.”

Aurash and Xi Ro looked at each other. “I wish you weren’t so honest,” Xi Ro said. And Aurash thought that Sathona had never been wrong.

In her soul Aurash knew that the only way to keep their oath was to find a great, powerful secret. A secret that could change everything. This was Aurash’s soul, her fire and her shadow — her desire to cut through the flank of the world and find its beating heart.

“We have to dive,” Aurash said. “That’s what this ship is built to do. Dive into the Fundament, the world below us... towards the core.”

“That’s where the ancient crew died so obscenely,” Xi Ro protested. “That’s where the atrocity in the birthing room was born...”

“We have to dive,” Sathona said, following the whispers of her familiar. “In the world beneath us, in the metallic depths, I hope we may find what we need most...”

More time. More life.

_\--As a story of sisters, this particular verse is one I find heart-wrenching. They know they are aging and have little prospect of fulfilling the oaths they set after their father was killed and their kingdom fell. Even distractions no longer work to mask this looming fact…playing with a new ship or childhood games, relaxation with subjects you once loved. We find these same facts in every single coming-of-age story that has ever existed on Earth, fictional or not. This realization spurs them to lay down their childhood days and embrace the adulthood they thought they already had achieved. In this particular case, I think that this spurred an action of extreme desperation. Diving into the core of a world, or to embark on the same actions you know were fatal to those who’ve tried before you…no sane being would ever attempt this, should they have a choice. But then, I think that’s what this passage also illustrates…these three no longer have a choice but the insane. At least, in the case of Xi Ro and Aurash, this would amount to simply a crazy, last desperate attempt to fulfill what they came out here to do. To Sathona, this is the only option from the only being she truly trusts anymore._

_I think I should use this opportunity to point out something, as well. This worm has been sparingly mentioned thus far in the verses, but at this point I think we can finally draw some conclusions about this thing. This worm has not yet lied to those it has spoken to. The king was warned about the syzygy (and perhaps other things) by this worm, and it has led Sathona to the location of a plausible answer for all their questions as well as the means to reach this location. At this point in time, it really is impossible to know what alignment and motivations this thing has, and so we may not draw any concrete conclusion about it…yet. Just remember: IT HAS NOT LIED._

**Verse 1:7 — The Dive**

For life, Sathona dove. For vengeance, Xi Ro dove. And Aurash dove to understand.

The needle ship pierced the skin of the world and burrowed deep. Through layers of foam and metal and cold elemental slush. Aurash devoured the ship’s maps of Fundament, from the high angelic cloud decks, down and down through storms and oceans and plates of floating world, into the crush of the core.

They met monsters of continental scope. Vast anemones that raised glowing tentacles to bait them in. Xi Ro flew the needle ship through them and they bled black carbon jelly and frost.

They came to a still place, beneath a plate of metal.

“I’ll use the sensors,” whispered Aurash. “Listen...”

In the wet gold dark of the helm, they listened to the ship, and the ship listened to the crushing motions of Fundament.

They heard the collision of continents. They heard the patter and the crash of helium-neon rain. They heard the struggles of monsters. And they heard the distant groan of the ocean rising. Tugged by distant moons.

“The syzygy is real...” Sathona hissed. “It’s already begun.”

Behind them, Xi Ro thought of the birthing-room, where ancient explorers had labored over surgeries and administrations, peeling back the chrysalis and the caul of that which they had made from the deep, whose birth none of them would survive...

“There’s something down here,” she whispered. “Something secret.”

And the Leviathan loomed over them, its brow as huge all the continents of their childhood, its great array-fins crackling with the lightning of its life. Booming into the hull of the needle ship in a microwave voice:

++YOU MUST TURN BACK—  
—SAVE YOURSELVES FROM THE DEEP++  
++SAVE THE WORLD FROM YOURSELVES—  
—YOU MUST TURN BACK++

_\--Wow. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, anyone?_

_Putting that aside, this verse is the first part of the revelations to come. This is all about discovery, of earning revelations through observance. The strange creatures that inhabit this utterly inhospitable place, the fact that world-spanning effects can be heard this deep into the Fundament, the proof of the king’s last words to his daughter, and the encounter with an entity thought only to be a mythological part of their origin story as a species. Everything here is on such a massive scale, the likes of which they have never encountered, but for each their determination enables them to plow through any obstacles that get into their path…quite literally, by the sound of it. The Leviathan’s mass and scale border on the edge of unbelievability: A brow the size of multiple continents, fins described on the scale of interplanetary vehicles, a booming voice that quite literally engulfs both them and their ship. However, their first meeting with this creature is not hostility, but of warning, a message for them to go back before they do irreparable damage to not only themselves, but also to the world they inhabit.  
I think this verse also reveals the fate of the previous crew as we are reminded about what they found when they first boarded the ship. The crew tried to create life from something they found in this stratum, but not only are they dead, it is implied that none of their creations survived either. Leviathan does not seem surprised by the arrival of their ship and even seems to know their purpose for being down here. It’s not too much of a stretch to believe that Leviathan had a hand in their demise, either directly or indirectly, knowing what they were trying to do and knowing that it would fail catastrophically, and wants to spare this crew from suffering the same fate if at all possible. It’s rather oblique, granted, but I ask you to keep this in mind for the future verses._

**Verse 1:8 — Leviathan**

The Leviathan’s Warning

++We live on the edge of a war—  
—a war between Formless and Form++  
++between the Deep and the Sky—

++MY EYES ARE WIDE, MY GAZE IS LONG++

—Across the universe, as far as I see++  
++the Sky works to charge its fires—  
—and the Deep drowns the ash++

—Sky builds gentle places, safe for life++  
++Beloved Fundament, refuge of trillions—  
—The Sky treasures this rich place++

—BUT THE DEEP IS HERE WITH US—

++Cold logic tests our walls—  
—The Deep claims its dominion++  
++A ruthless, final age —

Aurash’s Protest

Old Leviathan, creature of myth, this world is no refuge. We live short, hard lives. We die in the dark. The storm above us will never end. And soon the God-Wave will take us all. Above us there are only stormjoys, monsters, and moons of apocalypse. Let us go down, down, where we may discover truth, some power to avenge ourselves upon our betrayers, some hope of survival.

The Leviathan’s Hope

—What power calls you++  
++Down to the deep?—

++What instinct draws you—  
—Away from high hope?++

—Quick-breeding krill people, I tell you++  
++For eons I have watched your struggle—  
—Clinging to the sharp edge of survival++  
++Balanced between the Deep and the Sky.—

++You were my treasure—  
—My proof against despair++

—FOR THIS IS THE DEEP CLAIM—

++Existence is the struggle to exist—  
—When the struggle seems lost++  
++when the safe place crumbles—  
—everything turns to the Deep to survive++

++I REJECT THE DEEP CLAIM++

—You will turn back, sweet krill of hope.±±  
++You will choose the Sky instead.—

Xi Ro’s Protest

You are huge and old! Our lives are short and desperate. If that’s the way the world’s supposed to be, I won’t have it! If people like Taox are supposed to win, I won’t let them! I’ll beat the world until it changes! I’ll kill anything in the way!

The Leviathan’s Dirge

++This fatal logic++  
—Hear my monopole scream!—  
++It will consume you++

—Before you lies—  
++The worship of death++  
—The ruinous path—

++The Sky builds new life++  
—Against the onset of ruin—  
++Towards a gentle world++

—The Deep embraces death—  
++Saying: this is inevitable and right++  
—I exist as hungry ruin—

++TURN BACK FROM THE WORLD-KILLING WAY++  
++OR YOU WILL LIVE AS DEATH AND DEVASTATION++  
—The Sky is the harder way. But it is kinder.—  
—My charge is balanced: my voice exhausted.—

Sathona’s Protest

Sisters, I have my father’s familiar. Look! It answers me in plain words. It helped me find this ship. It gives me strength when hope is lost.

Who will you trust? The voice that wants us to live and suffer, as we have lived and suffered? The Leviathan that offers no hope against Taox or the world-wave?

Or the plain, honest worm?

Let us see where its whisper leads us, Aurash. Let us go deeper, Xi Ro!

Let us dive, oh sisters mine.

_\--The second of the revelation verses. This probably comes the closest to divine revelations, where an ancient and/or powerful being offers them insight into both world and galactic events, and these revelations almost never sit well with those who receive them. Boiling things down to the absolute simplistic explanation, Leviathan has seen this happen before and knows it will happen again. All it will give to the ones who question it is the absolute truth, and it is up to them to decide whether or not to follow it. Depressing, especially in light of the fact that he is essentially saying that there is nothing that should be done about the looming catastrophe, but it seems to be resolved to have a minimal impact in the upcoming events. More thoughts on that in a few minutes._

_Before I move along to winding philosophical prosthelytizing, there are some other things I want to point out about this verse. First, it continues to call them and their people ‘krill’, equivocating them with zooplankton used to feed certain types of whales. Quite literally, Leviathan is saying that their entire purpose is to forever be prey. Perhaps he is impressed with how well they have survived, given that they are likely some of the weakest beings that inhabit the planet (akin to Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon, perhaps, if taken from a human standpoint?), and for this reason they are also his hope. Maybe he believes them to be pitied, or sees them as fledgling, like pets or children. This warning is all he can give to them…they have to make the ultimate decision on their own. Second, what is an agent of ‘Sky’ doing in the entryway of ‘Deep’ to begin with? Was this inevitable? Did ‘Sky’ always know that one day, there would be seekers turning to answers from ‘Deep’? It’s certainly implied again and again in this verse. With that amount of precognition, though, the obvious question becomes ‘Why didn’t ‘Sky’ head this off sooner, so that no being on the edge between the two would turn to their ultimate rival? ‘Deep’ obviously had no problem insinuating itself within this culture, making itself invaluable._

_And it’s this very conundrum that leads me to my philosophical wanderings (sorry Warlocks, you can’t get all the credit for deep thinking!). So the sisters go to the depths of the Fundament and find this secret being and, believing this is what they were looking for, try to get help and advice for their current situation. The being only gives them advice for the very long future, one that will not include them but will include an easy life and happiness for some generations down along the line. Obviously, these short-lived beings want help for the here and now, for who cares about a future they will not be a part of? I find this interesting because this is another one of those universal truths that seems to crop up regardless of race or religion or culture or even species. To work hard and to suffer and to end life with nothing to show for it is often considered the righteous path in life, for you are making life better for your children and children’s children and so on and so forth. But can the quest these sisters embark on really be considered selfish or unrighteous? In their own way, they are thinking about the generations that come after them because there are catastrophic events happening NOW, both natural and inter-species created. How many of us would have stood by and accepted that these events happening in the here and now are necessary for future happiness and peace? How many of us would protest like Aurash, that the events and sufferings of now need to be stopped for the betterment of the species? How many of us would protest like Xi Ro and vow to go and change this inevitable fate with any and all force we could muster? How many of us would protest like Sathona and look for advice from a being which does not speak in riddles and offers a solution for the now?_

_How many of us here would choose the whale, and how many of us here would choose the worm?_

**Verse 1:9 — The Bargain**

You are Aurash. Heir to the Osmium Throne.

You stand on the naked hull of an ancient ship. You stand exposed to the crushing pressure and ferocious heat of the deeper Fundament. It should annihilate you. It is by my will alone that you survive.

I am Yul, the Honest Worm.

Behold my passage. Behold my vast displacement, my ponderous strength, my great and coiling length, my folded jaws and curled wings. Behold the hiving cities symbiotic with my flesh. I am fecund, Aurash. I am at the beginning and end of lives.

Behold Eir, and Xol, and Ur, and Akka. The Virtuous Worms. Look upon us, and know that We are go[o]d.

For millions of years We have been [trapped|growing] in the Deep. From across the stars We have called life to Fundament, so that it might contend against extinction. For millennia We have awaited you... our beloved hosts.

Against you stand the cruel Leviathan and all the forces of the Sky. They would crush you down into the dark. They have arranged their moons to drown you, in fear of your potential.

We want to help you, Princes. We offer to each of you a bargain... a symbiosis.

Take into your bodies our children, our newborn larvae. From them you shall obtain eternal life. From them you shall gain power over your own fragile flesh: the power to make of it as you will. And should you find an imperfection in the world, an injustice or an inconvenience — you will have the power to repair it. Let no mere law bind you.

We ask one thing in exchange, oh Princes.

You must obey your nature forever. In your immortality, Aurash, you may never cease to explore and inquire, for the sake of your children. In your immortality, Xi Ro, you may never cease to test your strength. In your immortality, Sathona, you may never abandon cunning.

If you do, your worm will consume you. And as your power grows, oh Princes, so will your worm’s appetite.

But we offer eternity, Aurash. We offer you a chance at the universe. Would you deny your people infinity?

Reach up to me. Let my flesh be your sacrament.

_\--Yul Prince Dakoor. Eir Prince Merok. Xol Prince Garok. Ur Prince Banuk. THIS IS NOT COINCIDENCE! But I’m sure you’ve already figured that out. This clearly defines the beginning of the Hive, though not as we know them, not yet._

_I find a few other things interesting about this particular passage. Prior to this passage Xi Ro, Aurash, and Sathona were adamantly referred to as females: daughters, sisters, mothers. This marks the first passage where they undergo a gender pronoun change, as Yul refers to them as Princes. I have a couple of guesses on this, though I doubt we will ever know the truth of it. Perhaps this would be considered a second stage of life for this particular race…once they hit a certain age or life event, they switch gender automatically from female to male unless certain steps are taken to halt this process. We see it in a few species here on Earth, so it really is not unheard of. A few clues of this have also been mentioned in the previous verses: Sathona wanting to eat the ‘mother jelly’ so she can become a mother, and Taox referred to as both mother and neuter. My other guess is that this radical change in physiology results from the symbiosis with the worms. No real proof of that has been seen, but we also haven’t exactly had the chance to study the physiology of the Hive or their origin species, so it remains only a theoretical possibility.  
I am bothered by some of the translated words in this verse. The calcified fragments yield these tidbits of knowledge through resonance, which helps us completely bypass any language barrier we might have come up against (and thank you, Eris, for teaching me how to control the resonance so it isn’t overwhelming and I end up passed out in my ship…again…), but there are still a few words in this passage that come through as either unclear or doubled meaning. The line “Look upon us, and know that We are…” is unclear to me, no matter how many times I go over it. The last word has come through as both ‘good’ and ‘god’. While either fits in this case, I wonder if it was a layered meaning when it was originally communicated to the sisters…for instance, if the sisters heard ‘good’ when the worm purposefully slid across the word ‘god’. The other line that does this to me is “For millions of years We have been…”. In this case, I heard two distinctly different words at the same time, overlapping each other and almost impossible to determine which takes precedence. This misunderstanding is actually quite unnerving, since each of the words in the context of this line portray two vastly different scenarios. If the first word, ‘trapped’, is the dominant word, then this means that some being, perhaps Leviathan or even ‘Sky’ itself, has deliberately placed these worms near the core of this world so they would be unable to get out under their own power. When taken in combination with a later verse, one wonders if this might have truly been the case, and that their eventual demise was the plan all along (and I will revisit this thought when said verse comes up later). However, if the second word, ‘growing’, is meant to be dominant, then these worms have either come to this place deliberately millions of years ago or were part of the natural genesis of this planet. This brings up a new set of questions: how did they learn of and/or become agents of ‘Deep’? How have they come upon so much power if this is where they have remained for countless ages? And, as an even more disturbing thought to leave you with, did they create the necessary and infinitely remote chance for a few of the Fundament’s natal protein chains to eventually evolve into the very species that would one day become their hosts? The suggestion earlier of the many species that inhabit this planet could indicate this, as these species could be the result of aeons of trial and error as they worked to create the specific species they wanted._


	2. Verse 2 - The Ammonite Wars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The text of "The Book of Sorrows" belongs entirely to Bungie and their creative teams; I cannot and do not claim any of it. The comments are my own, done in the perspective of my in-game character.
> 
> Also, big thanks to [WonderWafles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderWafles/pseuds/WonderWafles) for my very first comment! I have to say, one of the earliest mental images I formed when I started reading this was Xi Ro proudly holding up the Bait Stars to her sisters. It's great exploring these grimoire cards since it fills in so much background for both the Hive and the Taken.

**Verse 2:0 — Immortals**

We are the Worm your God, the Flesh of Hope. Our compact is done: you are Aurash Eternal. And we are bound to you, as close as your appetites, as your loves or needs, as the weapon in your fists and the word in your throat.

We’ve had enough of this dismal place. Haven’t you?

We are intagliating your ship with larvae. Go back to your species. Spread the good news in the Osmium Court and the Hydrogen Fountain, in the Bone Plaza and the Star-surgery. You will rise up into the world.

If anyone rejects symbiosis with our children, make an example of them. A mighty wave is coming for them all. They’d die anyway; save only what can be saved.

The worm grants you power over your own flesh, Aurash. When you’ve taken the king morph, what will your adult name be?

Auryx. It means Long Thought. We approve.

_\--Now that they have successfully been infected/empowered by the worms, the time has come for the inevitable second step of their plan: conquest by sword and propagation. Sadly, this is the least surprising and shocking thing that has come up so far in these verses. However, I like the way we are introduced to just a little bit more of their home and culture. The Osmium Court we have already heard of, and I assume it must be the seat of their particular kingdom. The Hydrogen Fountain…perhaps this is similar in nature to The Fount which we have mapped in the Dreadnaught? Their enemies were known as the Helium Drinkers, so perhaps this would name their own people as the Hydrogen Drinkers. The Bone Plaza sounds rather sinister. This is clearly a war-like species as a whole, so perhaps this would be a place where the bones of defeated enemies would be on display or used as an integral part of that area’s architecture. On the other hand, it could just as easily be a memorial for their own dead, particularly kings and heroes and notable mothers. The Star-surgery is both the most interesting and the least fathomable of these places. Personally, I have only heard of a star nursery, which was one of the early names given to The Pillars of Heaven when Earth got their first look at this magnificent stellar formation. However, it’s already been established that this race is not yet technologically capable of extra-planetary flight, so they have not yet been among the literal stars. Currently, I have absolutely no guesses as to what this place may have been or what its function could be. I wonder if Ignis or Mokir might._

_As interesting as this glimpse into the proto-Hive culture is, the first paragraph gives us an especially tantalizing tidbit on a part of human culture. Allow me, if you will, to quote a passage from the Holy Bible of Christianity using a mid-20th century translation:_

_**For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. \--Isaiah 43:3-4** _

_Let’s take a closer look. The first line of each matches almost exactly, though in this case it is the worms which proclaim themselves god over their race. The rest of the paragraph seems to take the essence of the Christianity verse and then completely inverts it to their needs. The worms wish for these three to take the rest of their species and other races in their name instead of giving them the country that has been held hostage. The worms bond close to the three, though not out of love. They become parallel to all that these three need to survive, and this survival is absolutely dependant on the sacrifices the three make of themselves and of others. They have given themselves to the worm instead of the worms giving others for them, and these three must conquer other nations in order to ensure their continued life. Eerie, perhaps, though as we are seeing in the nature of these worms and the ‘Deep’, it is not unexpected that they would be a dark mirror of a faith which once proclaimed peace and love. I suppose the simplest (and tl;dr) statement is that ‘the Lord your God’ will give everything in and of itself, while ‘the Worm your God’ will take everything in and of its host. Take this little fact into consideration, though…the events unfolding in The Book of Sorrows is presumably aeons before Christianity (or any of the Abrahamic religions) has even been thought of; for all we know, the Earth is still just a molten ball spinning in it’s orbit around the sun, waiting for the seas to rush in and turn all that lava and plasma into bacterium and solidified carbon. What a frightening thought, that perhaps this entity worked its influence from this far away in both space and time._

**Verse 2:1 — Conquerors**

Savathûn, mother morph of Sathona, we delight in your sharp mind.

For millions of years the Leviathan caged us here. It is a pawn of the Sky, a philosophy of cosmic slavery. The Sky seeds civilizations predicated on a terrible lie — that right actions can prevent suffering. That pockets of artificial rules can defy the final, beautiful logic.

This is like trying to burn water. Antithetical to the nature of reality, where deprivation and competition are universal. In the Deep, we enslave nothing. Liberation is our passion. We exist to help the universe achieve its terminal, self-forging glory.

The war rages on. Soon it will consume Fundament.

We are pleased with your use of our larvae to create mighty knights and plentiful warriors. Taox’s retreat to the Hydrogen Fountain proves your superior strength. But you must know that reclaiming your home is not enough.

There are five hundred and eleven species living on Fundament. One of them must have the technology you need to leave this world.

_\--Quite a study in contrasts, this one. ‘Sky’ is the enemy of not only her people, but to countless others flung across the far reaching universe. They offer only slavery and suffering to the beings who ally themselves with it, no matter how moralistic or ethical any individual might be. ‘Deep’, on the other hand, offers liberation (which is still a bit different from freedom), where one may reap all the benefits of that which they have fought for and clawed over others, where they have come out on the better side of both competition and deprivation. Now, worm has not yet lied to them at all, and this case is no exception. Both maxims have proven true right here on Earth. There are many who give all they can, who remain selfless and lives for the betterment of their fellow beings. Altruism is a trait that is typically regarded highly by many cultures, creeds, communities, and races. However, it seems like altruism never yields anything in return for this self-sacrifice. ‘Deep’s argument harkens back to a time well before the Golden Age, when fervent religious doctrine distrusted or even completely demonized the emerging field of biological scientific studies. Charles Darwin’s famous study of the evolution of many species as well as it’s mechanism of ensuring that only the best and most useful traits were passed along from generation to generation was a giant step forward within the scientific community, though the world’s religious community continued to discredit his study up until we met the Traveler. His study claims that these useful traits were mandated by the law of ‘survival of the fittest’. Only those who found enough food or could withstand the elements or was successful as either predator or prey would live long enough to procreate. The most ideal condition for survival was one that was always contested through both depravation and competition. And if anything I said above bordered on incomprehensible, then I apologize. I wrote this section after absolutely failing to take down the S.A.B.R.E. shank in a cooperative strike. Constant Arc stimulation tends to scatter your thoughts, as I’ve found out._

_The last half of this verse gives us some insight as to the campaign the Princes are waging on Fundament. Savathûn has found some way of increasing their loyal armies exponentially using the larvae they were given. My guess is that it is a combination of infusing her spawn (after all, she is a ‘mother’ at this point) with the larvae close to birth and forced indoctrination of those they have both captured and liberated. Together, they have caused Taox and her forces to retreat in the face of this onslaught, but as always mere retreat is not enough. Now it is time to enslave, indoctrinate, and kill the other species on this world until they find the one which has the means to take them to the stars and moons. We’d previously heard that there were thousands of other species on this planet (Verse 1:4, to be exact), but worm firmly puts this total at five hundred and eleven. Was the number given in the diary of the sisters simply exaggeration, having finally seen the scope of the world they live in for the first time? Or are there truly thousands of species, but only five hundred and eleven of them are sentient/intelligent? Either explanation is likely enough._

**Verse 2:2 — Out of the Deep**

Xivu Arath, knight morph of Xi Ro. You love to conquer, don’t you? We love to see you work. Nearly two percent of Fundament’s surface is now our dominion. Your species embraces the worm.

The syzygy has passed. The God-Wave will reach you in less than two years.

Our organs informs us that Taox and her surviving Refusalists flee towards Kaharn Atoll. She hopes to rally the species of Fundament against you. The Leviathan’s agents work tirelessly to destroy ships and engines, trapping us on Fundament.

If we cannot make ships, we will become them.

Overwhelm the Kaharn bastion. Slaughter everyone there. From your acts we shall obtain the logic we require to cut space open and migrate to orbit.

Reality is a fine flesh, oh general ours. Let us feast of it.

_\--Another entry, this time about Xivu Arath (formerly Xi Ro). More time has passed between the last verse and this one, and it seems as if the conquest of Fundament is progressing nicely, if not smoothly. It seems as if all but a pocket of resistance ‘Refusalists’ have been indoctrinated with the Worm, and that efforts are switching now to other species. Time is of the essence, as this mega-tsunami caused by the syzygy is readily encroaching, and to survive they realize they must not be on the planet when this wave comes to pass. ‘Sky’ and Leviathan have figured this out, too, and are actively doing anything and everything to ensure that these three and their devotees never leave the surface. Actually, with the sabotage they are committing, they will never be able to leave either, and are more or less sacrificing themselves to keep the conquering agents of ‘Deep’ from the stars, where they would be able to conquer and expand near indefinitely. The focus of their new plan, Kaharn Atoll, is one place we already know a little bit about. Mentioned in Verse 1:5, it seems that this is Fundament’s major merchant and trading hub, and that many different sentient species of this planet congregate there. This would make it an ideal place for gathering a resistance against this new threat, and it also makes it ideal for subjugation and the theft of ideas and items. So, we can see this as a sort of ‘last stand’ for Fundament, since if this is lost then it is foregone that these worms and their hosts will be impossible to contain._

_“Reality is a fine flesh, oh general ours. Let us feast of it.” This line bothers me, but only for the vague reason that I don’t know why it bothers me. Ignis, Duke, Mokir, any ideas on this one? I’m open to any interpretation at the moment._

**Verse 2:3 — Into the Sky**

You’ve done well, Auryx. Can you feel the growth of your worm? Can you feel your will beginning to warp mere law?

At times we detect sadness in you. Understand, long-thinker, that you enact a sacred and majestic task. Existence is the struggle to exist. Only by playing that game to its final, unconditional victory can we complete the universe. Your war is divine work.

We are free from Fundament’s core, and Savathûn’s cutters are ready to fly. With Xivu Arath victorious, we have opened a wound at Kaharn — a wound leading to geostationary orbit. Behold: we are faithful to our covenant.

We have no future on Fundament. But her moons will make fine habitats. Let us rise.

_\--The battle of Kaharn Atoll is done, and we can see that the Princes are the victors. They now have the means by which they will take to orbit and expand into the stars. Yet it is not Savathûn or Xivu Arath the worms are comforting (if it can be called that), but Auryx, the one who should least need the impetus to go and leave Fundament to explore the universe ahead of them. She has kept to her tenants, obvious in the way that her worm is growing from the use of her trait, but this may not be enough. They sense sadness and confliction in her. As the one who should think of the long-term rather than the short-time gains, it should be most obvious to her that what they do now will lead to the betterment of her species sometime in the far future…quite ironic, in it’s own way, as this was the very same thing that Leviathan was extolling as one of the virtues of ‘Sky’. I wonder about the nature of her sadness, though, and I have a few ideas. She may be sad to realize that she will now have to say goodbye to Fundament, the dangerous planet where she had been born and raised, and that this farewell will be forever…she will never return. Perhaps she is now realizing the true cost of this war that they plunged headlong into, where she is now the catalyst of the millions of deaths she sought to prevent by learning about and attempting to stop the syzygy. Or maybe she is bothered to learn that, for all the differences in doctrine between ‘Deep’ and ‘Sky’, that this path is really no better than the one ‘Sky’ had offered them. Both Leviathan and the worms have now said the exact same statement: “Existance is the struggle to exist.” They must still struggle, they will still lose their home, and they will be forever unrewarded as they become embedded deeper and deeper as ‘Deep’s’ pawns. For any (or perhaps all) of these reasons, Auryx is now having second thoughts about their chosen course._

_I think the ‘wound’ that has been opened at Kaharn is a literal one, a tear in space and time. We all know that this is not only possible but hightly achievable, and we have all seen it with our own eyes out on our patrols in the Cosmodrome or on our Moon. That inescapably loud screech coming from the sky, sounding like thousands of metal girders being torn apart at once, that weird black and green vortex that opens in the sky, and the Tombship that flies sedately out of it, ready to drop fresh Hive troops onto the battlefield. I’ll happily admit that I was freaked out when I first witnessed it, and I dare any other Guardian to say that they didn’t even have a single moment of fright when they first saw it themselves._

_And I know exactly what your response is, Duke. Hush up, or I’ll leave you in limbo until I get ready to leave when you next die on patrol._

**Verse 2:4 — 52 and One**

Good news. The fifty-two moons of Fundament host a starfaring civilization far more sophisticated than anything you’ve encountered so far. Taox’s ship fled towards the large ice moon, where a species of bony six-armed cephalopods keeps their icy capital. Savathûn’s named them the Ammonite. They seem eager to grant Taox asylum. Idiots.

We tried appealing to their hopes and dreams. This was largely unsuccessful, basically because they’re already happy and indoctrinated. This angered us, so we’ve devised a plan.

Our organs detect a fifty-third moon in orbit of Fundament. A Traveler. Divine presence of the Sky. Now we know what arranged the syzygy.

You’ll have to kill them all and take their stuff. Once the Ammonite are out of the way, we can deal with the Traveler.

Do not hesitate. You’re fighting the hypocritical puppets of a cosmic parasite. Avenge your ancestors.

_\--The Traveler. This is the very first and the earliest mention of it that we have come across in any literature we’ve acquired so far. With this we may now safely conclude that the two forces at work here, ‘Sky’ and ‘Deep’, are the very same forces with which we must contend on a daily basis, the Light and the Darkness. This would mean that these worms are an agent of Darkness, just as Leviathan is an agent of Light. From this passage alone I would also surmise that the Traveler was simply an agent of Light as well, but perhaps one of the highest order of agents, perhaps an avatar of Light itself._

_Now we can also go back to some loose puzzle pieces from the earlier passages and start to snap them into place. Back in Verses 1:8 and 1:9, when Leviathan and Yul were taking their turns appealing to the sisters, I noted two things: that ‘Sky’ likely knew this would come to pass and had done nothing to prevent or ease the impending catastrophe, and that the worms gave double meanings as to their existence in the core of this planet. Now knowing that ‘Sky’ is the Light, we might be able to conclude that these observances are not disparate as they first appeared. Since we really only have this lore as a source of information as to what happened on this far-flung planet, it would possibly be better to take the words with a grain of salt. One thing that cannot be ignored is the fact that, either way, the Traveler acting as an agent of Light played some part in the desolation of this planet. The worms credit the Traveler exclusively with arranging the syzygy for the sole purpose of bringing about this God-Wave and, truthfully, I see little reason to outright deny that this statement may have some truth to it. This observation will probably make me very unpopular in the Tower for a while, but please have an open mind for just a bit longer._

_We all know that the Traveler by itself is capable of world-spanning effects; look at what it did to Earth, to Venus, and to Mars shortly after we first encountered it. The Traveler was certainly altruistic when it was helping us, and we may not have survived as a species if it had not revealed itself to us. However, we also know that the Darkness had not yet touched us at that point in time. It could afford to be helpful, and it was likely even necessary as it knew already that the Darkness would seek it out to destroy it and the races it had touched. However, Fundament had already been touched by the Darkness, perhaps millennia in the past. The Light had already set its’ own Guardian in the form of Leviathan, and its’ purpose was to ensure that these worms, the agents of Darkness, remained eternally trapped in a place where none of the sentient species could ever reach it and where it could never reach them. One did escape, though, and it’s my guess that this happened when the original crew of the Needle journeyed towards the core and experimented on the specimens found in that cold and dark place. Furthering that scenario, Leviathan may have destroyed the Needle before it got too far away, killing the crew and their experiments all at once. The Needle survived this purge (and I think it may have simply been a matter of bombarding both the ship and anything living inside of it with some form of toxic wavelength, like its’ ‘microwave voice’, which would have killed the living creatures but left the structure of the ship intact), and so it was hidden by Leviathan in a place that none of the sentient species would be able to find. The lone survivor of this purge would have been Yul, who likely played dead long enough for Leviathan to hide the ship before casting itself into the oceans of Fundament. Yul washed up on a distant shore, where it was picked up by a younger King Osmium who simply thought it to be a strange dead creature of the deep oceans. I have no doubt that if this is true, Yul would have wasted no time subtly insinuating itself with King Osmium, guiding him along a course which would eventually lead to one of them going back to the ‘Deep’ and freeing the rest of Yul’s brethren. Leviathan must have learned of the escape sometime in the ensuing years and, unable to retrieve or destroy Yul, called upon the Light to help in this matter. The Light would send another agent, the Traveler, in order to take care of this loose thread before things unraveled too far. From here I can think of two possible scenarios. The Traveler, intent on observing Fundament in order to excise the rogue worm as cleanly as possible, did not realize its position among the 52 moons and accidentally created the syzygy and the God-Wave which followed. There is also the possibility that the Traveler knew exactly where the 52 moons sat and, seeing little possibility of terminating the worms with minimal causalities, arranged for the syzygy and created the God-Wave to eradicate all life on that planet, including the worms. Either way, Yul saw the events as it and the king observed the movements in the orrery and acted for the greatest chance of self-preservation and plan fulfillment. It could have subliminally nudged Taox (or sufficiently unnerved her through the king’s actions) to call out to the Helium Court, who in turn would kill King Osmium. Then Yul would have relied upon the three sisters, calling out to one of them to ensure that one would pick it up and bring it along, then bend their wills over a futile-seeming journey and keep their thoughts of revenge at the forefront. Just when it seemed like they would never be able to fulfill their oath, it would step in, whispering instructions to Sathona which allowed them to find the Needle and the core, manipulating Leviathans words of warning as indifference and almost guaranteeing that they would free the other worms and take them on in symbioses. This is only a theory, mind you, and I suspect I’m going to get an earful from both Ikora and The Speaker once this document gets out. However, this is the scenario that makes the most sense to me. If they want a different opinion then I suppose that next time they should get a Warlock to interpret what vibrating shards of darkness say to them._

_Moving along, there are a couple of interesting points in this verse. Taox and her resistance have made it off-world by this point and have been accepted by the only moon-dwelling species with intergalactic spaceflight capability, multi-limbed squid-like beings whom they call Ammonite. Killing these creatures and taking their technology would allow them to leave the geostationary orbit they’ve achieved and allow them to spread their particular parasitic plague among hundreds of thousands of galaxies. And while we’re on the subject of parasites, the worms call the Ammonite race “the hypocritical puppets of a cosmic parasite”. I find it slightly amusing, as the worms have now just described what the Princes and their race are to them. Also, it seems as if the worms have already tried to indoctrinate the Ammonite with no success. They’ve likely already been indoctrinated into the Light and are possibly Guardians like us. Could the Light actually repel Darkness’ attempts to steal any being they have already marked?_

_^^(Ignis has recently pointed out to me that this isn’t necessarily true, either. She’s been studying the diaries and lore of Toland, and from what it sounds like he willingly embraced both the worms and the Darkness. Nothing conclusive, not yet, but it’s enough to make me wonder.)^^_

**Verse 2:5 — Born As Prey**

This is unacceptable.

Are you so weak? Born as prey, and doomed to die by predator?

Auryx’s failure of resolve led us to catastrophe. The Ammonite fleets under Chroma-Admiral Rafriit have pressed us back to the sixth moon. Once more we find ourselves burrowing into a world’s core to survive.

Savathûn. You must draw Auryx out of his catatonia. Make him understand that the ideals of peace and stability he clings to are cancers — brutal, unjust obstacles between us and a fair cosmos. These are the bait stars the Sky uses to blind its slaves.

War is the natural rectification of inequality. The universe’s way of pursuing equilibrium.

Xivu Arath, you cannot defeat the Ammonites and Taox in line combat. We propose new tactics. Breed your armies back to strength, and find a way to disperse the broods across these many moons.

If we cannot defeat their strengths, we will infect their weaknesses.

_\--Well, their little war isn’t going as well as planned, is it? The fight for the wealth of Ammonite technology is going badly, causing the Princes and their army to retreat further and further among the moons. The worms’ allusion to them as prey brings to the forefront the concept which the three have embraced since before they were indoctrinated. Every sister says in a different verse that they are the natural prey of this world, that they are the smallest and weakest of the creatures that inhabited Fundament. It’s an effective shaming tool, as they took on this quest so they would no longer be the prey of all the other species._

_We see an extension here as to Auryx’s state of mind during this time. The sadness has now turned to despair as he is pressed into what he might see as unnecessary and meaningless slaughter of another race, one more advanced than them. I can understand how it must feel to someone like Auryx, who still remembers quite clearly the thoughts and ideals he had when he was still Aurash, exploring new places, letting curiosity guide the questions and shape the knowledge gained. The destruction of another species, especially one who is so much more advanced than them, is a waste. He obviously still holds to the ideals he had as he was the eldest daughter of King Osmium, the likeliest heir to the Osmium Court, and even then he sought not to wield the power as a sword as Xi Ro would have, nor to subjugate other species to fall in line through cunning plans and tricks, as Sathona might have done. The ideals of peace and stability would normally be the markers of a truly good leader, embracing those different from yourself rather than ending their thoughts and ideas for eternity. These are the very traits that the worms, and therefore Darkness, do not want propagated. Domination through force, through slavery, through indoctrination…they claim all of these as traits of the Light, but neglect to mention that they employ these traits themselves. Inequality breeds war. War destroys with little discrimination beyond ‘us’ and ‘them’. Thus equilibrium is achieved when there are none left who think differently than you. Some beings prefer this existence, brutal but straightforward. Auryx obviously did not._

_Auryx is not the only problem with this war, though. Xivu Arath has been fighting the only way he knew how; confronting the enemy head on, where they are strongest, and prevailing by brute force. (Gee, sounds like a certain Titan I know…) Against races that were inferior or equal to them, this tactic probably worked quite well. Against this advanced race they find that they lose ground again and again when they try to win in the same way. Thus, a new tactic…overwhelm the enemy not with superior numbers, but with a force so diversified that they begin to infect the enemy, seeding their army everywhere, including within the enemy ranks, and tear apart the resistance from the inside out. Certainly not a new tactic by any means, but even we on Earth know how effective this proves to be._

**Verse 2:6 — The Sword Logic**

AT LAST!

We knew curiosity would draw you back, Auryx. In their desperation, the Ammonite have begun using paracausal weapons.

What are these? How do they work? Wouldn’t you like to know. Suffice to say that some powers in this universe are superordinate to mere material physics.

The source of these weapons is the Traveler, the Sky’s bait star. Their effect is subtle, but devastating.

But you are armed to respond in kind. Savathûn’s mothers have listened carefully to our teachings. We will not give you the Deep, King Auryx — that power is for us, your gods. But we will teach you to call upon that force with signs and rituals.

Small minds might call it magic. 

You are no longer bound by causal closure. Your will defeats law. Kill a hundred of your children with a long blade, Auryx, and observe the change in the blade. Observe how the universe shrinks from you in terror.

Your existence begins to define itself.

Of course, high Auryx, we know it was not curiosity alone that brought you back to the war. You felt your own death growing inside you.

You must obey your nature. Your worm must feed... 

_\--Curiosity...the downfall of many Guardians who wanted only to learn more and more despite the risk to themselves and their companions. It seems humanoids are not the only race susceptible to its lure. As one of those afflicted humanoids, I know just how a burning curiosity can draw someone out of deep and desperate despair. In Auryx’s case, it seems that their enemies have brought a previously-unseen technology to the warfront._

_Paracausal...that word stumped me for a while, and by now I'm getting sick of the smug looks and impatient and superior overtones of (most of) the Warlocks. The mistake is thinking that it’s the actual name of this weapon. After all, for all the technology The Traveler has given us we have never had anything called ‘paracausal’. The worms believe their hosts would not and could not understand the true nature of these weapons (and in this I think they may be right), so they have simply given a vauge classification for Auryx. The ‘paracausal’ weapon is one that lays beyond the ordinary realm of cause and effect, the natural order of physics and logic ignored._

_I imagine it like this: if I take a sidearm and shoot at someone (for the sake of the hypothesis lets say that this person is Duke) it will cause physical damage in any number of ways: through-and-through, splinter and lodge, internal ricochet. The gun ejects the bullet with force, the bullet travels with diminishing force and velocity until it hits a solid object, after which it transfers the remaining force to the object which reacts with absorption or dispersion...more or less. Cause and effect._

_Now, if Duke were to offend Ignis and she responded by throwing a Nova Bomb at him (it's happened before, so it's not entirely hypothetical), we would see that the effect is similar as it destroys his physical form. However, the cause for this force is impossible by the traditional laws of physics. A gun has several methods to produce force and velocity, all scientifically explainable. But where does the force that created the Nova Bomb come from? An equal exchange would cripple or kill a humanoid with the amount of energy expended in the transfer. Yet we’ve all seen how they can do this again and again after a short rest. This means that the Nova Bomb, like the weapons The Traveler has given to the Ammonite, is outside the normal realm of cause and effect, or ‘paracausal’._

_The analogy of the Warlock is a good one, actually, as the worms offer something similar to Auryx. They even use the term ‘magic’ when attempting to explain it. With this I can believe more firmly that the Ammonite have become Guardians for Light as they are described to have ‘paracausal’ weapons...perhaps similar to a Warlock’s Nova Bomb, a Titan’s Fist of Havoc, a Hunter’s Arcblade? Powers given to them by a greater being in order to defend that being. Isn’t that close to the definition of ‘Guardian’?_

**Verse 2:7 — The Weakness Verse**

You are dead, young Auryx. Betrayed and murdered by your own sister, for the crime of mercy.

Remember what you said to the Ammonite Satellite Congress? ‘We will parley on neutral ground?’ Savathûn’s witches have rendered it utterly neutral. No living thing will ever claim it again. The space around the dry moon stinks of rot.

This is good. This is right. You will learn from this. Don’t you understand, great King? Don’t you want to build something real, something that lasts forever?

Our universe gutters down towards cold entropy. Life is an engine that burns up energy and produces decay. Life builds selfish, stupid rules — morality is one of them, and the sanctity of life is another.

These rules are impediments to the great work. The work of building a perfect, undying creation, a civilization everlasting. Something that cannot end.

If a civilization cannot defend itself, it must be annihilated. If a King cannot hold his power, he must be betrayed. The worth of a thing can be determined only by one beautiful arbiter — that thing’s ability to exist, to go on existing, to remake existence to suit its survival.

All that would oppose this arbiter is unholy and false. All the misery and terror of your ancestors springs from the lies of the Sky, who deny this truth.

Your ancestors endured the most hostile conditions. And now you must go on creating those conditions. Even unto your sisters. Even unto your offspring. Savathûn’s betrayal is the greatest gift she could offer you.

Your body is gone, but you have endured. Safe in the cyst universe created by your own might — your throne world.

From this day forward, Auryx, you and your sisters will each survive death — so long as you aren’t killed in your own throne.

Even as your sisters press the attack against the Ammonites, the God-Wave devastates Fundament. Trillions will die. But the survivors will never forget... and their descendants will always be ready for another syzygy.

When you return to the material universe, use this lesson to complete your work.

Taox wasn’t on the dry moon. She must be laughing at you.

_Ethics, and the applications of imposing or removing said ethics, is yet another concept that seems to be universal. Auryx showed a modicum of ethical behavior, speaking with their enemy and agreeing to meet on neutral ground to work toward compromise. A choice many good leaders make, if only for the sake of avoiding more loss on either side of the battlefield. But Darkness does not allow for mercy. It does not allow for ethics. Darkness comprises of absolutes. Alive or dead. Win or lose. Survival or extinction. Them or us._

_The portrait the worm paints while speaking to Auryx (or his spirit, more likely) is the definitive rationale of absolutes, what earlier humans called ‘Darwinism’. Though harsh, there is undeniable truth to this argument. The only alleviation to this truth is how much it is tempered by compassion and cooperation. Obviously, there is no room for compassion...for mercy...in the worldview of the worm._

_At least this passage gives us two important insights. The first is that Auryx, Xivu Arath, and Savathûn have essentially risen above mortality by this point. They can be killed, as this passage abundantly explains, but they cannot die unless a specific condition is met. Barring this condition’s fulfillment, they will return in physical form indefinitely._

_Incidentally, you should take a moment to thank your ghost now. We survive under the same circumstances, though our condition of death is different._

_The second insight is the very existence of this ‘cyst universe’ that Auryx retreats to when his physical form is killed.. Even after all this time of studying our Hive enemies, we still have very little understanding of...well, them, I guess. Eris Morn has spoken of many things that occur down in that Darkness, and I feel she still has knowledge of many more things she hasn’t said yet (not that I blame her, honestly; I probably wouldn’t want to talk about it either). She has, however, made many references to the Hive that seem to reflect many aspects of death., not the least of it hinting that these Hive may not die, but instead go elsewhere for whatever purpose. This, I think, was the start, this cyst universe that holds Auryx’s spirit while the physical form is dead._

**Verse 2:8 — Leviathan Rises**

The Leviathan has broken cover.

The old priest is in open space, moving towards the Ammonite home moon. Chroma-Admiral Rafriit and his elite guard move with it. Rafriit is the hero of his generation, an Ammonite of peerless battlecraft. He’s danced circles around Xivu Arath... but now he has to protect his holy Leviathan.

We’ll give the old lunk a word:

++Ruin. Grief and ruin!—  
—The krill lost. The Ammonite ravaged.++  
++Our Traveler’s work undone.—

—Sisters of Aurash, open your eyes++  
++Who made you monsters? Who summoned the wave?—  
—Make peace. Join with me in golden renewal.++

In counterargument, Auryx, we ask you this: what has the Leviathan done for your people? Who gave you immortality and led you out of your prison? Who answers your questions about the universe with truth, instead of sermons?

Find détente with Savathûn. Crush the Chroma-Admiral, boil the Ammonite seas, and slaughter the Leviathan with witchcraft.

Once the way is open, we’ll show you how to eat the Traveler.

_The Leviathan returns, and this time it intends to aid the Ammonite and the Traveler, perhaps to drive this finishing blow and ensure that the worms and the Deep are eradicated forever. This, though, simply stands as a perfect opportunity for an ambush, for the three princes to finish their own enemy. This is nothing new, nothing we have not seen before and will see later, and almost doesn’t bear mentioning._

_What does bear mentioning is the final exchange of arguments. The worm is arrogant, or so I see it, in allowing the Leviathan one last chance to sway its’ three champions away from the Deep. Even I have to say that its’ argument is nowhere near convincing. Who wants sermons and lectures when there is immediate threat to yourself, your family, your species, your world? We can’t deny that the Deep has answered their questions forthright while Sky has only spoken in haiku-like verse. The Sky implores their immediate self-sacrifice. The Deep extends existence. Who wouldn’t choose to continue along the path to survival?_

 

**Verse 2:9 — Crusaders**

It’s done. Eir and Yul feed on the Leviathan’s carcass. Xivu Arath has made a temple of the Chroma-Admiral’s impaled corpse. Below us, Savathûn’s poisons stain the Ammonite home sea black. Their screams flavor the void.

The Traveler has fled.

Do you understand, Auryx? Do you thrill at the secret, Savathûn? Do you relish the edge of this truth, Xivu Arath? Do you see the beautiful shape?

The Ammonite occupied a piece of reality. They rented their existence on fraudulent terms, making themselves happy and fat, fencing themselves in soft lies and sweet apocrypha. Saying: ‘we are peaceful and good, we harm nothing.’

Their golden age was a cancer.

They did nothing to advance the cause of life! They burnt up time and matter and thought on this solipsistic, onanistic pursuit of safety, insulating themselves from death, making a regressive pocket of useless stability. When they could have helped whittle the universe towards its final, perfect form!

And your people, suffering in the Deep, you became more worthy of existence than the Ammonite. You have proven it.

Look around the sky. Behold the great divide, the battle lines of the cosmic war. We are the Worm your God, but we are not the Deep Itself. We only move within it. You shall too. You shall venerate and study it and haunt it in its passage.

Will you lift your thoughts to the millennia, Auryx? Will you bend your will to the liberation of the universe, and join us in the war against the Sky?

We need champions. Crusaders. Help us save the universe. Help us exterminate that which would destroy all hope. You are oathbound to this task, by the covenant of the worm.

And you are oathbound to kill Taox. Wherever she’s hidden herself.

_And so we come to the end of the Ammonite wars. The princes have won, the worms feed on the former denizens of Light, and the Traveler has fled. This is a major victory in many ways for them, not the least of which is the victory of their survival and their way of life, the victory of their ‘philosophy’, if you can call it that. This is the justification that they have, that they need, to affirm that their path is the right one and to continue down it at full speed. They are chosen. They are right._

_There are a few things in this chapter that need to be highlighted. This first is the worm’s lecture on the Ammonite’s Golden Age. It depicts them as a race who lived on the fat of hardships gone by, a race who forgot survival and, in doing so, life itself, and so it was only natural, justifiable, RIGHT that they would be crushed under the heels of those who’d not forgotten their survival. This is the final application of the ‘Sword Logic’ introduced in 2:6, at least as it applies to the physical plane of existence. It is on this platform that the worms lay the stage for their three champions, setting them up for several millennia of constant hardship, constant war, constant survival...the constant application of Sword Logic, the refinement of survival of the fittest. I expound on this fact simply for the parallel it draws with us, with the races spawned from humanity. We had our Golden Age. How does the story go? Our life spans tripled, hardships ceased, life and culture flourishing with the arrival of the Traveler in our solar system. This lasted for centuries, a peaceful time of culture, learning, exploration...the end results of a civilization finally moved beyond the basis of tribal hunters and gatherers. Still, our Golden Age was followed by the Great Collapse, when we were ambushed by forces of the Dark and had no defense against them...we were prey and were very nearly slaughtered as such. The only difference is the fact that the Traveler did not flee this time...it sacrificed itself for our survival, for whatever that would mean. So the story goes._

_With these lines drawn in the proverbial sand, the worms lay out the course of conquest for them. After all, their way was just proven right after that victory against the Ammonite and Leviathan. Why shouldn’t they continue along this path? Yet again, I draw the comparison between us and them. The worms explain that they are not the Deep, that they work within it, and that they can teach their wards how to do so as well so they may teach their spawn...and so on and so forth. We are not the Light, we merely work within it...we cannot even intercede directly with it anymore. The worms name Auryx, Savathûn, and Xivu Arath as their Crusaders. We are chosen as Guardians by our ghosts. There are so many parallels here, and yet all it proves is that both Light and Dark seem to operate in the same manner when it comes to interceding with ‘mortal’ races._

_There is one last thing of note within this verse, and unfortunately I don’t think it’ll come into play until much later in this story. The worms speak of the longest term possible, of the final shape of the universe. They condemn the Ammonite for creating “a regressive pocket of useless stability,” when they feel that they should have “helped whittle the universe towards its final, perfect form”. While this isn’t the first time they have condemned the Ammonite for a useless existence, this is the first time they have placed it in context with the rest of the universe or, more specifically, in conjunction to everything else that has, is, and will happen in the universe. This concept is not new, not even to us. We have seen and heard this argument before._

__

**_The Pattern._ **

**Author's Note:**

> So this started out as my own method of going through the grimoire information to link it together and ended up working to flesh out Zeph's personality over the debates and theorycrafting I did with my friend, Ignis' player. I do enjoy discussion about this, so don't hesitate to correct or contradict me. Also, I really wouldn't post this (it doesn't exactly contain any earth-shattering fiction of my own, after all) if it hadn't ended up becoming a large part of Zeph's personality for some other fics I've written that take place during TTK.


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